


Manufactured

by sbuggbot



Series: (title to be revealed) [1]
Category: SteamWorld Quest (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Heavy Angst, I'm going to be afraid of my readers when I'm done with this, Mad Scientists, Medical Experimentation, Revenge, lots of feels, tags to be updated, the plague?, um this got dark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:15:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28063800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sbuggbot/pseuds/sbuggbot
Summary: The gang investigates an old scientist's lab, which has recently sprung back into activity for some reason. And something about it seems pretty shady...
Series: (title to be revealed) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2122335
Comments: 16
Kudos: 6





	1. Beginning of an Investigation

**Author's Note:**

> With me getting this story written and into a postable state, we're going down into a specific rabbit hole that I'm not considering directly canon to my other fics. It references them quite a bit, but events and things in this story (and connecting ones I've yet to finish) don't necessarily exist outside this timeline.
> 
> ...maybe I'm just saying that because things are about to get weird and even further from canon than ever...

“Isn’t that one of those... sciencer’s insignias? Which one is that?” Galleo asked, pointing at a discarded metal plate on the ground. It was dirty, but you could still see the glyph carved out of it perfectly clearly.

“Sciencer?” Tarah couldn’t suppress a laugh at that.

“Oh, don’t tease him,” Orik said, “English is a nonsense language anyway.”

“It is one of those insignias,” Copernica said as she picked it up. “It looks like Dr. Mandelow’s.”

Armilly peered over her shoulder to see. “Mandelow? Who’s that?”

“He was the first to figure out a complete cure for the Carminic Plague,” Orik said, holding his arm and absently tapping his finger against the upper part. His hand slipped down to his promise band, the bangle around his wrist. “And you know how brutal  _ that _ disease was…” What was once a terminal illness, a sentencing to a slow and painful death upon diagnosis, could be cured with little issue now. 

“I never really liked Dr. Mandelow, he always rubbed me the wrong way,” Copernica said. “No offense, Orik…” She knew what the disease had done to him--not to himself personally, but to someone he had loved dearly.

“As someone who had to work with him personally, I understand completely. He was eccentric in a rather... concerning way at times.” 

“They were talking about naming a new wing at the college after him…not sure how to feel about that.”

“Maybe the place we’re investigating belonged to him at some point?” Armilly suggested.

Galleo shrugged. “But why would we be led to some old dude’s lab? Especially a guy from Orik’s days, isn’t he supposed to be dead by now?”

“I suppose that’s a mystery we’ll have to uncover ourselves,” Orik said with a small, wry smile.

“There’s been multiple reports of something strange going on in that area, and we’re probably the best ‘bots equipped to investigate what’s going on.” Copernica pushed her glasses back up. “A private lab that’s been inactive and empty for ages doesn’t spring back to life on its own.”

“Did the guy even die?”

“You know, now that I think about it, I don’t recall hearing news about his death,” Orik said. “But then again, I stopped listening.”

“Somehow he just… faded into the background and nobody really noticed,” Copernica said.

Orik pulled a goofy smirk. “Sounds rather familiar to me, for some reason. Can’t imagine why.”

“I thought people were supposed to die when they get old, how does Alsydhia have so many ageless cryptids?” Armilly asked. 

“At least people don’t seem to be trying to find a way to make it happen on purpose. Not dying is the sort of thing some people like to lose their minds over trying to do.”

“I thought we were going to investigate a shady science lab?” Tarah asked. “Or are we going to spend all day talking about the fact Dad refuses to die instead?”

“I don’t think it’s something that simple---”   
  
“Hellbeast,” Thayne interjected.

“I still don’t know how I did that and I don’t intend on seeing if I can do it again.”

_ “Shady business at the long-abandoned lab,” _ Copernica said, waving the plate around before tossing it aside roughly where it was when they found it. “Can we  _ please  _ focus, I’m getting a weird feeling about this thing.”

“Indeed! We won’t figure anything out just standing here! Onward!” Armilly pointed in a random direction she thought was correct and began to trot off.

“Other way, Milly!” Copernica hollered, going to catch her excitable friend.

“Sciencer,” Thayne muttered as the group began moving again, making his sister giggle.

“Coco’s my favorite alchemy-er!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter's usually stupid and kinda silly, right?


	2. Breaking the Door Down Dramatically

They had come to some sort of structure that somehow simultaneously looked unassuming and imposing. Somehow. 

“Is this it then?” There was a pause, and Galleo facepalmed. “...I realize that’s a dumb question now, there’s his insignia.”

“It didn’t feel this quiet when I scouted here earlier,” Armilly noted.

“How do we get in? Are we just going to climb the fence and go through the front door?”

“Honestly? It’s worth a shot if we can’t find another way," Copernica said. "Either way, we need to get on the other side of this fence.”

Getting over the fence thankfully didn’t involve any catapults or anybody getting thrown this time; it was just a wrought iron fence they could climb over pretty easily (although Orik needed some help--one armed climbing wasn't easy). Now they were staring at the front door from a little distance away. 

“...Do we knock first or just go in?”

“Can I break the door down dramatically?”

“Milly, you do not need to break the door down dramatically.”

“I want to break the door down dramatically.” There was a five-second pause. “I’m going to break the door down dramatically.”

“Galleo, stop her from breaking the door down dramatically,” Copernica sighed, nudging her glasses up to rub her eyes.

“Has anyone seen Tarah and Thayne?” Orik asked, growing somewhat concerned. 

Galleo picked up Armilly and tucked her under his arm to keep her from breaking the door down dramatically while Copernica took a moment to breathe and make sure she hadn’t dropped any of the group brain cells. Orik tried to figure out where his kits were hiding, and Armilly squirmed and kicked, complaining that she wasn’t going to be able to break the door down dramatically if Galleo was holding her like a sack of wheat.

There was a ‘click’ from the door and everyone froze to watch it open. Tarah, then Thayne appeared from the other side. “...What?” Tarah asked at the baffled looks they were getting. “We got in through the side while you all were goofing around.”

Orik put a hand to his chest and breathed a sigh of relief knowing they were alright. “Did either of you see anyone while you were sneaking around?”

“No, but the place looks inhabited. Someone’s been working in here for a while.”

“I got a really weird feeling from further inside the place, though,” Thayne piped up.

“Let’s go in while we still have the element of surprise, then.”

It was as though someone had been living here for a while, but was out at the moment. For being in such a remote place, it didn't have any security measures aside from the fence and the locked door.

With no other clear plan, the group followed the "weird vibes" that Thayne and Copernica even could sense from within. Some sort of indication of life would have been encouraging around now...

They rounded a corner at the same time as another 'bot did down the hall.

The small, round man looked up and startled at the sight of these unfamiliar people in his space, but then smiled warmly. "Oh! Hello there, I didn't realize I had guests!"

"And who are you?"

"Why, I'm Dr. Mandelow of course. The one and only."

He didn't seem any different from what Orik remembered. That was strange, even he and Gilgamech had begun showing signs of age over the years. It was as though all that time never happened from the Doctor's perspective.

"Come, come! Let me show you around, it's been _ages_ since I've had anyone to ramble to," he said as though they hadn't just broken and entered. He pointed at Copernica. "You, with the hat and glasses, I see you're an alchemist. You'll get me!" And he took off, leading the way.

"...I am _deeply_ unnerved," Copernica muttered, loud enough her friends could hear her, but not Dr. Mandelow.

"Just as I remember him," Orik replied in a similarly tense and hushed voice. "Although he's yet to recognize me, it appears…."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok things should really get going in the next chapter--


	3. It Was Written Down, that Makes it Science

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what am I doing again

The man prattled on about some of his later work, which mostly involving studying the mechanics behind how diseases worked. This stuff was either common knowledge or readily obtainable with some quick research. What was he doing? Stalling for time? Leading them into some sort of trap? He was rather unbothered by the fact these people broke into his lair.

Thayne tugged on Orik's sleeve. Once he had his attention, he whispered, "This feels really sketchy…"

"I know." Showing concern himself, Orik patted Thayne's head reassuringly. "I'm hoping we'll learn something about his plans by playing along for now." He let Tarah and Thayne close, remembering now how much Mandelow actually irritated him.

"But now, onto my latest project. Come along, I'm very excited to show this!" He led them to a lab that was seeing active use, from the looks of it. “I present to you: hyper-adaptability! It’s a new way to accelerate evolution and ensure a robust species.”

“Huh?”

“It’s simple, really--you see the concept applied to some once-ordinary common pathogens. They operate on a hive-mind of sorts, making beneficial adaptations become the new standard almost instantly. Here, any resistance a member acquires is quickly shared amongst its peers, making it adapt and respond to any threats faster than ever!"

"That...sounds dangerous when you stick it to germs..." Galleo muttered.

“Of course, I’m also studying how to outpace or even break through the system to destroy it. It does have its exploitable flaws, though I do hope to expand this concept to a larger scale someday with more complex beings. I plan to let it loose eventually to get a bigger test sample.”

"You mean like the general public?"

"Of course!” the doctor said, dissonantly chipper. “I'll be able to clean up my own mess, after all."

“What is wrong with you? Why do you feel the need to do this?”

“It better not be because you feel forgotten and want people to remember you,” Tarah said, “because we’ve already done that story.” 

“No, no, I’ve had my fame and I can still coast off of that. Don’t need to go through that much attention again,” the doctor said. “I’m doing this because I  _ can. _ ”

A chill spread through the room as he finished saying that. The warm facade was all but absent now.

“You see nothing wrong with this?”

“This isn’t my first time, you know." He began pacing back and forth as he spoke. "Ever heard of Carminic Plague? I know it’s mostly slipped from modern memory, but it was all my doing. After all, what better person to create a cure for a disease than the one who brought that very disease into existence?”

Copernica nearly dropped her book. “Hang on, what--"

“That’s right, I manufactured the Carminic Plague. I never intended to let it out into the world, only study it and how it affects mechanisms in laboratory environments. I believe it got mixed up and taken out of my lab along with some other samples by mistake. Even I don’t know how that happened. But once it was out in the world, who would I be to pass up such a  _ rich _ opportunity?”

Orik felt his entire body lock up. He could barely hear over his own pulse, heat rising and steam pressure building with every beat. Every ounce of his will went into holding himself back to see what else the doctor would confess to. 

“So, I played into it: acting as shocked and confused as everyone else, but willing to do research on this strange disease to find a cure. Of course, I already knew everything there was to know about it and knew how to cure it, but such a chance to study it extensively--and an excellent cover to do whatever I wanted as a test. That amount of freedom only comes once in a lifetime, you know.”

Silence. Maybe everyone was waiting to see if Orik said anything, but he remained stiff and speechless.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Copernica cried after a long pause. “One of your experiments, one that shouldn’t have even existed in the first place, gets loose, killing  _ thousands _ , and you decide to turn it into a show so you can play hero??”

“Well, consider it this way, my fellow academic: had I been honest about what happened, my career would have been ruined. My credibility would be gone, the academy would take my doctorate back, I would have had  _ nothing. _ I would have died a broken and penniless man. 

“But the way I handled things, well… it appears you know the story already, and that just proves my point.”

“What about all those people who got it and died?” Armilly glared at him from under her visor. "What do you have to say for them?"

_ What about Umeko, _ Orik thought, too consumed by fury to actually speak.

He shrugged but somehow still made it seem arrogant. “Some sacrifices have to be made in the name of science.”

“Don’t call whatever you were doing ‘science’, you weren’t even learning anything new,” Copernica hissed. “You were just playing around and being sadistic.”

“Nevertheless, I still ran experiments and verified my own theories. Perhaps they were questions nobody else asked, but I found answers.”

“Algyron’s ascendance, he’s a maniac.”

“What’s making you spill the beans to us now, after all this time? We’re not gonna keep this a secret, you know.”

“Because, why would people listen to a band of random nobodies? Do you realize how absurd you’d sound if you were to go out spread the truth now, after so long? Dr. Garrett Mandelow, the genius pharmacologist, engineered the entire epidemic that brought him to fame? You have no sway, nobody will believe you.”

“Have you been living under a rock?” Tarah asked. “We’re the ones that killed the Behemoth for good when it was brought back by a  _ different  _ guy that was off his rocker.”

“Armilly here did what was thought to be the impossible and destroyed the Necronomicog."

Galleo pointed a thumb over at Orik. “And this guy right here’s fought the thing twice and won both times!”

“Well, whatever you say,” Mandelow said, waving them all off. “Nobody figured out the truth and made it out; this time will be no different.”

Unable to contain himself any longer, Orik roared and lunged at the man, pinning him down. He had foregone any weapon this time, oddly enough. 

“What do you think you’re doing, who do you think you are?!” the doctor demanded, although his voice shook as he spoke.

Orik's icy glare burned right through him.  _ “You know who I am, Mandelow.” _

He squinted, trying to place who this was. Realization and horror slowly dawned on his face. “M-Matsumoto…”

“Indeed,” Orik growled. “Although I suspect you may only remember that name because my wife was one of your earliest patients.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Isn't it kinda weird like, 90% of the characters in Dig/2/Heist have full names and then we get to Quest and they just? Don't? Or at least we aren't told them aside from like two NPCs we never even see


	4. Reaction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor content warning; there's several references to immoral medical experimentation in this chapter, including a blink-and-you'll-miss-it reference to twin experiments.

“...oh.” Now that Orik was clearly right here, Mandelow realized he should have recognized him sooner.  


Orik didn’t raise his voice, but it still carried. “You lied to my face, you said there was no way to help her.”

"I-I can explain---"

"Her insides collapsed in on themselves and you watched while you _knew_ it didn't have to get to that point."  


“It-it wasn’t anything personal--”

“It is now.” Orik leaned closer to his face. “And all those other people that suffered as a result of your actions? The poor souls you used as ‘test subjects’, once your trials began? The families that were broken? Some of the things I saw in those trials still haunt me.” Those had begun after Umeko's death, but Orik followed them as his own way to try and cope--making sure nobody else had to suffer as the two of them had.  


“H-hey, I remember you playing a pretty active part in efforts, even if you weren’t directly involved in the research. I hardly ever heard any objections out of you.”

Orik sputtered. “That--”

“Wait,” Armilly spoke up. “You're blaming the grieving widower? Who was led to believe you were trying to  _ stop _ the disease that took his wife?"

"Well, when you put it that way…"

Orik continued, “Especially when it was your incompetence that put me in that position to begin with. You don’t get to use me as a scapegoat. I volunteered for the general organization,  _ you  _ were the one who decided to play God with resources you didn’t even need.  


“You could have saved all those people, but you didn’t for the sake of living your own little fantasy. And to think you call yourself a hero…"

Mandelow shrugged again. "Even though I had a cure before it even got out, I couldn't release it right away. That would've been boring."

" _ That's _ your excuse?"

"You're not listening to anything I have to say anyway. I suppose all I can offer is this." With a flick of his hand, what the others assumed to be inert, dead vines on the walls came to life and wrapped around Orik, pulling him off Mandelow and holding him against the wall. More vines joined in and trapped the rest of the team before anyone could react and help him. Nobody could break out.  


“It doesn’t matter now, why be so angry over it? That was a long time ago.” He bounced on his heels as he checked some of his notes. “Like my vines? They were a gift, I didn't realize how much they'd come in handy. It was an odd thing to receive considering their craft, too... Oh, it’s been a while since I’ve gotten a good spread of guinea pigs like this to work with. I don't get twins often, either!”

“Let them go,” Orik hissed. He couldn't let anything happen to his friends, not at the hands of the man who had taken so much from him already. 

“Oh, I will,” Mandelow said. “I’ll let you go too, even though you just tried to kill me. I'm just going to try some things out first...I’ll be back in a little while, don’t worry!”

The doctor’s footsteps faded, leaving the heroes on their own. 

“...Well, now what?”   
  
“I’ve imagined myself dying a  _ lot  _ of different ways, and I’ve gotta admit: lab-rat to a mad scientist was not one of them,” Galleo said. Thayne made a tiny noise in fear.  


“Don’t even call him a man of science, it’s an insult to science itself.”

Armilly was looking further down the wall. “...Orik?”

None of the others had ever seen Orik put up such a struggle to get loose. Or be so furious.  _ Not again, not to the people I love, not right under my nose like this! I won’t allow it! _ The vines only constricted tighter in response. 

“Yeah, he’s nooot okay.”

_ “Gee, I wonder why!” _ Tarah said, although her voice shook.  


“He isn’t going to get away with this, I won’t let him!” Orik hissed. There were tears on his face. He shouted something that was probably obscene in another language and strained against his bonds one last time with all his might, only stopping and going limp when he heard his joints creak ominously. 

He let out an irritable sigh and tried to get himself back under control emotionally. Deep breaths. Reckless anger wasn't going to solve anything, he needed to tamp it down for now so he could think without exploding. 

Tarah found her words again (having lost them upon seeing Orik's outburst) and spoke up. "How are we going to get out of this one?"

"Arson?" Armilly suggested. "We've got fire spells."

"I've seen this sort of enchantment before, ordinary fire isn't going to burn away  _ these _ vines," Copernica said as she shook her head. Her glasses, already askew, slipped further down her face. "We'll be lucky if they don't immediately grow back and strangle us."

"Too bad, like, none of the four of us with a blade of some kind can get enough wiggle room to  _ use _ any of them."

"So are we gonna just let this guy use us for his experiments, then?"

"I will die before I let that happen to  _ any _ of you," Orik muttered. 

"These vines might be enchanted or hexed somehow, but there's always a way to break through," Copernica said. "No spell is completely unbreakable."

The room went silent.  


“...Is something burning?”

"It's not me!" Armilly immediately said.  


Having been quietly trying to focus his energy, Thayne shakily summoned a small purple flame just above his palm. It quickly spread to the vines around his hand, slowly starting to burn them away and keep them away while leaving him unharmed. Everyone watched curiously, even Orik.  


He burned away the vines trapping his other hand and brought them closer together, lowering his head and closing his eyes as he focused harder. The originating ball of flame got slightly larger and several magnitudes brighter.  


“Is that--”

He flung his arms out and let the energy he’d been building up loose, sending a purple shockwave that engulfed the entire wall of vines in the strange flames. This fire burned much faster, and soon all six heroes were free.  


“Where did you learn how to do that?” Tarah asked. She’d never seen anyone do that before, let alone her brother.  


“I watched Coco once and tried to copy it, but when I tried, that happened instead for some reason,” he said. “I think it stops enhancements but I’m not sure.”

“Alchemy-based Arcana,” Orik said with an oddly stern note. “I haven’t seen that in a long time.”

“Is it cool?” Thayne asked, nervous now.  


“Very,” Orik replied, letting out a sigh and getting up. His voice softened. “I apologize in advance, but I’m going to be in a rather foul mood for the rest of the day.”

Galleo stared at Orik in confusion. "...Matsumoto?"

"Yes, that's my family name. But people only recognize me as just Orik these days, if at all, so I rarely bring it up." He felt weird whenever he thought about it too hard; it was like that part of him had died out as his living relatives had become more and more distant with time.  


On that thought of distance, he noticed Tarah and Thayne were being somewhat more distant right now, opting to hover around the other three. He'd likely scared them with his outburst earlier, he realized. Guilt gnawed away at his chest. He would have to apologize to them personally later. Hopefully, he hadn't created a permanent rift.  


“We need to hide before that guy realizes we got loose, he’s not going to be happy about it,” Armilly said.  


“Right.”

“In his own house?” Galleo asked.  


“He doesn’t need a place this big,” Thayne said. “I saw a bunch of dusty unused rooms while he was showing us all around.”

“That should work.”


	5. Digging Deeper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter today, but the really fun stuff starts tomorrow 👀

They found a room out of the way and unused and hid in there. Thankfully, Mandelow hadn’t heard them escape nor was whatever he was trying to get along the same path the group had taken by chance. 

“What do we do now?” Armilly asked after a long stretch of silence. “He knows he’s been busted, he might go berserk if we leave him.”

“Or Orik might instead…” Thayne muttered, reflexively shrinking into himself when past conditioning to fear his caretaker’s reaction kicked in. Tarah hugged him in an attempt at comfort although she was watching Orik, too.  


“I what?” he asked. He had been staring off at the wall, going over what he’d heard earlier in his head.  


Thayne lost his nerve to keep talking and pulled the bottom of his hood up over his mouth as he huddled against Tarah. “...”

“We just know you’re really mad about all of this,” Copernica said.  


“I am, but please, I want to stress that _ it isn’t at any of you, _ ” he replied. He knew his anger was justified but he still felt bad for scaring the others, especially the children he'd vowed to protect. “I just learned one of the worst things that ever happened to me wasn't a random tragedy and could have been completely avoided. I’m angry about that and I’m angry at Mandelow.” 

"We get it, you deserve to be mad about this." 

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around all this," Copernica muttered. "I didn't care for the guy but I never suspected he was  _ this _ bad…"

"We nearly got used as test subjects…"

"I won't force any of you to stay," Orik said, "but I refuse to leave until Mandelow is dealt with."

"And we're a team, we aren't leaving without you!" Armilly said. "If that means helping you get your revenge, then so be it!"

Orik gave a determined nod. Even if he was too upset right now to express it, he was grateful for his friends. 

“Hey!” Tarah whisper-shouted, looking up from the box she had begun digging in. “I think he uses this room for storage or something, I just found a bunch of ancient notes.”

“Define ‘ancient’.”

Copernica, having gone over to investigate herself, said, “How about his original notes on the Carminic Plague from that epidemic?”

Orik felt his soul briefly leave his body, both at the mention of the notes' contents and from something from his life as a young adult being called 'ancient'. “What does it say?” he asked hesitantly. “Roughly, I don’t want details.”

“One of his trials, I think…” she said as she skimmed the document.  


“That’s plenty,” Orik quickly replied, wishing he could block both ears at once. “I can fill in the rest on my own.”

“...eugh,” Copernica said as she finished reading. Mandelow had tried something different that had the  _ opposite _ effect of helping...and it wasn't pretty. She rolled the paper back up and stuck it in her bag to take with her later.  


“You’re taking it with?” Galleo asked.  


“The college is full of academics,” she replied. “Academics like proof. We should probably pick out some other stuff to take, too."

Although he understood the necessity, Orik didn't want a damn thing to do with those notes and stood off to the side while the others rummaged. He'd already learned way more than enough about Mandelow today, and he didn't want to relive any other things from that time.  


"That's probably enough for now," Armilly said. "We really shouldn't waste any more time…"

"So, now what, do we go find Mande-bugnuts again?" Tarah asked.  


"If he isn't already looking for where we went, he will be soon."

They crept through the halls, first seeing if he was in the lab he'd originally trapped them in. He was not, meaning he was probably somewhere else and they'd have to find him.  


Leading the way, Copernica muttered, "He has to be here somewhere…"

“Excuse me,” Mandelow said, stepping out of the alcove and in front of her, “But those are not your notes.”


	6. Revenge

“You somehow burn away the enchanted vines I was told were not burnable, and now you're walking out with important research that is not your own.”

Dr. Mandelow stepped closer, forcing Copernica to step back against the wall. “I never said they were mine,” she stammered.

“You appear to be taking them anyway, and I can’t have that, I’m afraid.” He plucked one of the scrolls from the bundle in her arms. “You already know what would happen to me if these were to get out, so I'll ask you to give these back.”

“No.”

“I may not know magic like you do, nor can I throw a punch, but I have my own methods of force.”

A thin, sharp sword cut between them, much, much closer to the doctor’s face compared to the alchemist’s. Both shrank back in fear and followed the blade to its hilt, then its owner. Copernica let out a shaky breath she’d been holding in at the sight.

Orik was glaring him down. He turned his katana so the sharp end faced the doctor. “I have a bone to pick with you, Mandelow.” 

He moved the blade closer to his neck. Mandelow took a half step back in an attempt to give himself some breathing room. Orik adjusted the blade so it was close again. Another half step back. Even closer this time. Orik took a step to the side. He would do this all day. Mandelow finally got the message and stepped back far enough to let Copernica escape behind Orik. 

“I’m unarmed, you don’t plan to attack me in this state, do you?”

“Just because you’re unarmed doesn’t mean you aren’t dangerous,” Orik said. “You said as much yourself.”

Everyone else stayed back, ready to back Orik up at a moment’s notice but giving him the floor. This was his fight.

“You had a cure sitting in your desk drawer and you decided you’d rather watch people disintegrate from the inside out.” Orik flicked his weaker wrist and made the wind slam the nearby doors shut.

Speedily in the way he'd trained for years, Orik struck. Blocking a sharp sword did not work in Mandelow's favor; while he didn't lose an arm he now had a deep cut in his forearm. 

Clutching his arm, Mandelow looked at him, wide eyed with a genuine fear that wasn't there before. He didn't have a backup plan like earlier; he was facing the consequences of his actions on his own. Despite having the combat abilities of a used napkin, he tried to knock Orik back and run away. He missed Orik, and his attempt to flee failed when Galleo stopped him and punted him back the other way.

He was so predictable he practically walked into Orik's blade again. Backing away, he stammered, "But wait! If you kill me, that makes you no better!"

"We are not the same," Orik said. "You killed hundreds for the sake of your own fame. I'm killing one man to stop him from taking a thousand more."

Orik knocked Mandelow to the ground with his elbow, simultaneously stunning him so he couldn’t move. The man rolled over and sat back up in time to find himself at the business end of Orik’s katana again.

Rather than attack immediately, Orik sheathed his sword and pinned him to the ground once again as he had earlier. This time holding a smaller, shorter blade to him in a reverse grip.

Mandelow realized he was stuck. "H-have mercy!"

"Why should I, after the suffering you caused?"

"Please, I'll do anything you want!"

"Anything?" Orik asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes! Anything!"

A tense pause where Orik adjusted his grip on the knife, thinking. "I want peace for the people you killed, for those families to be whole again. But most of all, _I want my wife back, you bastard._ "

Orik rammed the knife into the doctor's middle and drug it down his torso, carving a deep wound. Not enough to kill him instantly, but his fate was sealed.

“Good lord, Orik!” 

“Stay back, I’m not done.”

Then, he removed the knife from his insides and pressed the tip against his chest with enough force for the doctor to feel it but not to break through. The knife flashed a deep red and Mandelow howled in pain before his voice cut out completely. Orik had just cracked his lifespark, just to be sure that he couldn't be saved. 

Looking at his work, Orik stood up and tossed the knife aside. "Don't touch that, I probably just cursed it." He wasn’t positive, but it didn’t feel appropriate to continue using it after using forbidden magic with it. He kept a distance away from the others. "Are any of you hurt? I've never actually done something like that before."

Other than Copernica feeling slightly weird for a moment while Orik was doing whatever he did, nobody was affected. A quick heal-check put any concerns that brought up to rest. Content that he hadn’t hurt anyone other than his target, Orik slowly came back to the group. “I’m done here,” he muttered. He didn’t have any reservations about what he just did, but it still felt really weird and he didn’t like it.

“Are you okay…?”

“No, but I’m better than I was earlier, I think." He sighed, the tension in him finally releasing. "Oh, I've been running hot for too long, I feel dizzy now..." 

"Try not to melt now after we made it this far..."

Armilly pointed at the dying, dishonest man on the floor. “Are we going to do anything about him?”

Orik’s disposition turned strangely cold. “He’s dealt with. He’ll die alone, slowly, and painfully as he ought to after what he’s done. It would take a miracle to save him, and Karma is not on his side.” Having had way more than enough of this mess for today, Orik turned on his heel and walked out.

“Wait--" Armilly began, going to try to catch him.

Thayne put out an arm to stop her. “Someone stick a fork in him, he’s done,” Tarah said. 

Armilly paused, thinking. “Yeah, he definitely needs a minute,” she agreed. “This hit really close to home for him.”

“Are we going to steal any more notes?” Galleo asked.

Copernica shook her head. “We can come back for those later, let’s leave them so I have something undisturbed to show the College when I bring all this to the Board.”

When they got out, they found Orik sitting quietly in the yard outside the lab, staring up at the trees and clutching his bracelet. Seeing that the others were coming out to leave as well, he stood up and joined them. “We’re leaving now?” he asked.

“Yeah, we’re done here, no reason to hang around some disingenuous nut’s house of horrors,” Tarah said with a shrug.

"...Orik, do you want a hug right now?"

"I could probably use one, yes," he mumbled.

What started out as a hug between Orik and Armilly turned into a group hug because by Algyron, did the man need it after today. They stayed like that for several minutes. "As much as I appreciate this, I do want to get away from this place…" Orik eventually spoke up.

“That’s fair, come on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhhhhh confession: I'm not done with the last chapter and don't know when I will be. Hopefully this is an acceptable note to leave it off on :v


	7. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this part did not want to be written, geez
> 
> But it's the anniversary of me finishing Carminic, so there's that.

Walking back home was uneventful, thankfully so after the day’s earlier events. This area didn’t have many hostile critters even before Mandelow’s lab became active again and warded the remaining stragglers off.

Orik hardly said anything the entire walk and seemed to be trying to hide his face in his collar since he didn’t have a mask on hand. The others were talking about something, but Orik tuned it out. Today had been way too much for him to handle and he had a lot to think about. 

He'd learned several things he was upset to discover, and to an extent he wished he never had. But now the information was there and he preferred knowing the truth over living in deliberate ignorance. Especially when it came to things as important as this. 

Painful as it was, it didn't change anything tangibly, just showed it all in a new light. He tried to console himself with the thought he'd finally brought peace to all the lives that had been cut short because of Mandelow. It only sort of worked.

They had been successful in their mission--undefined as it was--but Orik didn't feel very accomplished. Dealing with Mandelow once he was caught was cathartic, albeit weird-feeling considering how rarely Orik showed no mercy whatsoever, but that alone wasn't a solution to everything. Killing Mandelow did not and would not bring Umeko back. He didn't know of anything that ever _could_. 

Orik decided he had to visit her grave later, to explain everything and apologize for letting this go unnoticed for so long. The habit likely seemed silly to an outsider, especially since he had done so for so long, but visiting Umeko's grave periodically and telling her what had been going on lately brought him comfort.

"Orik, are you still hanging in there?" Galleo asked, setting a large hand on his back.

After a moment of thought, he nodded with a small hum, adjusting his collar so it would be easier to hide in. Words didn't seem worth the effort right now.

"Just making sure you aren't losing it or anything from that thing you did with his lifespark."

He shook his head. That was a fair concern, though; there were stories of 'bots losing and corrupting their minds from playing with such powers. Doing it once to kill a dangerous monster wasn't enough to trigger that, though.

"Well… we're here for you when you're ready," Armilly said.

"I appreciate it," Orik mumbled from behind his collar. "Thank you…"

* * *

Things remained low-key and relatively quiet that evening when they had all made it back home. Everyone was tired to at least some degree after today’s adventure.

Orik was still being quiet, but the way he was fidgeting showed he was slowly getting more agitated and reaching his limits emotionally again. It was probably a good time to step in and try to help him since his own means of coping were exhausted.

“Orik?” Armilly asked.l

“...It didn’t have to be,” he muttered, shaking. He was close to cracking. “I… I consoled myself for so long telling myself that what he had learned from Umeko’s case would help others… but now I know it was just for show.” 

“Orik, you didn’t have any way of knowing…”

“It was all for _nothing!_ ” he yelled, flipping the table and knocking his chair over. Nobody else was sitting at the table but everyone jumped. “It was just a piece of an awful man’s alibi! Just so he could spin his own _fuck-up_ into fame!” He screamed, kicking the upturned furniture at the wall.

The room was dead silent, save for Orik’s already-slowing panting.

He lowered his head, trembling. “I’m… I’m deeply sorry you all had to see that. None of you did anything to warrant that sort of behavior out of me.” Slowly, he sat down amongst the mess he just made. Good grief, did he really just do that…? 

"Orik, you're allowed to be angry about this." Everyone came a bit closer since Orik had apparently burnt off the more volatile part of his bad mood.

"I--" His words died before they left his throat. He rocked his bracelet back and forth in his fingers.

"Maybe don't let yourself get consumed by it?" Tarah said. "But there's this one guy that I, uh… that's really smart and I kinda, maybe, really look up to that says it isn't good to hold it all in."

He looked over at Tarah. "You two still trust me? After I behaved that way?"

"Yeah," Thayne said softly. "You were mad he hurt people, especially Umeko and you loved her."

“Besides, you’re like, the most patient person we’ve ever met. I think that's the angriest I've ever seen you; you didn't really do that at Gilgamech...”

“And… and you never snapped at any of _us_ ,” Thayne added. 

_Of course I wouldn't, I care about all of you,_ Orik thought.

“I’ve seen people explode and take it out on everybody around them over really stupid stuff. Also, seeing you go off on someone for revengence was pretty cool."

"Revengence?" Galleo asked with a smirk.

"Yes," Tarah replied, internally screaming at the fact she had stumbled so hard putting her heart out there for Orik, and now the shoe was on the other foot and Galleo was teasing _her_ for making up new words. “And it was awesome, ok!?”

There was a pause. "That's a massive burden off my chest," Orik said, "I was so worried I had alienated you both…”

After a moment of quiet communication and deliberation, the twins crept closer and hugged him so he could be _sure_ there weren't any hard feelings. It did help a good deal; shy as Orik was physical contact had pretty much always made him feel better. He returned the hugs as best he could and shakily sighed. 

"Armilly, could you help me put the table back?" Galleo said. She nodded and went over to join him.

"L-let me help with that," Orik said, starting to get up. "I made this mess, I ought to clean it up."

Copernica put a hand out to try to stop him. "It's alright, you aren't yourself right now."

"Please, it would make me feel better if I did something."

"Okay, you can put the chairs back," Armilly said. She and Galleo lifted up the table to set it the right way up. " _OUFF_ , how did you knock this over on your own, Orik?"

"I have no idea," he said as he picked up his chair. “I really lost control of myself, there…”

“Today’s been a lot, I know I would’ve freaked out waaay before you did,” Galleo said. “You need a break.”

“Yes...” Orik agreed.

Once he was finished putting the chairs back where they went, Thayne started tugging Orik towards the couch in the hope he could start a cuddle pile. He was closely followed by Tarah and as soon as Orik sat down both of the twins were smooshed up against him. The remaining three sat nearby around him.

“I couldn’t say it earlier, but I’m grateful to have you all for support. I can’t imagine trying to process this by myself.” 

“I don’t even know how to begin imagining how hard it is for you, but at least we stopped that man from hurting anyone else.”

“Yes, I have that at least… he will not cause a repeat of what happened back then.” 

“I wonder what made him suddenly start doing stuff again," Galleo said. "The way he disappeared from the planet and came back is too different from what we saw....”

“He appeared to have not aged,” Orik noted. “Even bots that haven’t aged correctly such as Gilgamech or even me still have marks from all the years.”

“He mentioned the vines were a gift, maybe whoever that was played a part?” Armilly suggested.

“Probably a good guess,” Copernica said. “But trying to investigate that will probably need to wait for another time, we’re all tired and it’s late. We still need to report what we _already_ found, too…”

Orik sat back with a tired sigh. He was feeling more stable emotionally and it was an improvement over earlier, but he still didn’t know how to feel about anything other than ‘overwhelmed’.

“Orik isn’t doing the best right now, either… I'm kind of more worried about him than that right now…."

* * *

That night Orik found himself struggling to wind down enough to fall asleep. The rest of the group had hung around him for a good several hours after his outburst, just talking about whatever with him and trying to help him feel better. Which he did, but Orik healed slowly from his emotional wounds. He decided the task poking at the back of his mind didn't need to wait longer.

Quietly so he didn't wake any of the others, Orik got up, changed out of his night clothes, and went outside, remembering to grab a cloak this time. (It wasn't cold enough for him to absolutely need it, but he had been unpleasantly surprised by unexpected rain while doing this in the past.)

He looked up. The night was simply serene and he paused to just take it in. But not indefinitely; this wasn't an aimless outing. There was somewhere (some _one_ ) he wanted to visit. 

Could this have waited until tomorrow morning like he originally planned? Probably. But Orik decided he didn't really want to, especially when it was keeping him up tonight anyway. 

It took him a moment to recall the path he took from here, but it didn't take him long to find his way as he got closer. It was an old habit he didn't have to think too hard about. Once he arrived at his destination Orik knew where he was going almost by instinct. Even as the cemetery itself changed over time he never got lost here.

In an older part, one gravestone looked less worn compared to its neighbors, although they'd likely been placed there all roughly around the same point in time. It was mostly from someone making sure the moss didn't take over. This is the one Orik had been looking for.

He didn't need to read it, it had been burned into his memory when he first said what should go on it. 

Releasing his bracelet from the hold he didn't realize he was keeping, Orik sat down in front of the gravestone.

_Hello, Umeko…_


End file.
